Live blog: Hawaii vs. New Mexico
Chevan Cordeiro threw for 410 yards and four touchdowns to boost Hawaii to a 39-33 victory over New Mexico at Aloha Stadium.
Cordeiro helped rally the Rainbow Warriors from a 20-7 deficit in the second quarter to improve to 2-1. The Lobos fell to 0-2.
The Warriors rolled up 505 yards.
Nick Mardner caught six passes for 147 yards and a touchdown for the Warriors.
UH goes back on the road to play San Diego State next Saturday in Carson, Calif.
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The Lobos cut the deficit to 39-33 on George Steinkamp’s 42-yard field goal, his fourth three-pointer of the game, with 1:21 left.
But UH recovered the ensuing onside kick to seal the victory.
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Quentin Frazier intercepts backup quarterback Trae Hall with 4:12 to play to all but clinch Hawaii’s second victory in three games this season.
Hall entered after UNM quarterback Tevaka Tuioti was knocked on the helmet at the end of a 23-yard run.
The Warriors lead, 39-30.
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Freshman kicker Matthew Shipley drills a 41-yard field goal to extend the Warriors’ lead to 39-30 with 6:33 to play.
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Chevan Cordeiro’s fourth touchdown pass and ensuing conversion throw give UH a 36-30 lead with 12:19 to play.
Cordeiro lofted a pass that Calvin Turner secured at the UNM 35 near the right sideline. Turner then cut to the left, eluding a tackle and causing two Lobos to collide, then raced the rest of the way to complete the 64-yard play.
Cordeiro then lobbed a pass that Jared Smart caught in the right corner of the end zone for the two-point conversion, making 36-30.
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George Steinkamp’s third field goal of the game, from 24 yards, gives the Lobos a 30-28 lead with 13:31 to play.
The Warriors avoided further damage thanks to 295-pound defensive end Justus Tavai. Tavai made a solo tackle at the UH 7 and then soared to break up a pass headed to the end zone.
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The Warriors lead, 28-27, after three quarters but the Lobos are driving. The Lobos have 251 rushing yards on 31 carries, an average of 81 yards a pop. The Lobos will have the ball at the UH 14 to start the fourth quarter.
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Running back Nate Jones, who was added to the Lobos’ active list this week, goes 26 yards for a touchdown to close UNM to 28-27 with 9:33 to play.
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The Warriors’ hurry-up offense apparently is a tandem event. Seventy seconds after teaming on a 42-yard scoring play, Chevan Cordeiro and wideout Zion Bowens collaborate on a 40-yard score.
The Warriors lead, 28-20, with 11:55 left in the third quarter.
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The Warriors take their first lead, at 21-20, on a 42-yard scoring pass from Chevan Cordeiro to Zion Bowens with 13:05 left in the third quarter.
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The Warriors failed to cash in on a scoring opportunity when Jerrick Reed intercepts Chevan Cordeiro at the 2. Reed runs it back 3 yards, to the UNM 5, with 3 seconds left in the half.
After a trick play nets 8 yards, the Lobos go into the intermission with a 20-14 lead.
The Warriors will receive the kickoff to start the second half.
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Following a big stop, the Warriors 89 yards on 11 plays to close to 20-14 with 3:55 left in the half.
The final 42 yards came on a pass from Chevan Cordeiro to wideout Nick Mardner. Mardner, aligned on the right side, ran a slant patter. He caught the pass at the NM 35, then darted back to the right, eluding a defender at the 15, and then finds the end zone.
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It took five drives and 21 minutes, 36 seconds for the Warriors to force a UNM punt.
The Warriors take over at their 11, down 20-7, with 8:18 left in the first half.
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George Steinkamp’s second field goal — this time from 49 yards — extends the Lobos’ lead to 20-7 with 14:50 left in the first half.
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The Lobos have dominated the first quarter, scoring on their first three possessions for a 27-7 lead. They have amassed 206 yards to UH’s 72.
The Lobos are driving, at the UH 32, entering the second quarter.
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The Lobos parlayed UH quarterback Chevan Cordeiro’s interception into a touchdown to extend their lead to 17-7 with 4:10 to play in the first quarter.
Jerrick Reed II’s interception gave the Lobos possession at the UH 29. Tevaka Tuioti then threw a 29-yard scoring pass to Jordan Kress. It was their second TD collaboration of the game.
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The Lobos drove 61 yards to set up George Steinkamp’s 27-yard field goal. The Lobos retake the lead at 10-7 with 5:34 left in the first quarter.
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The Warriors tie it at 7 on Chevan Cordeiro’s 5-yard keeper with 10:21 left in the first quarter.
On second-and-goal from the 5, Cordeiro faked a handoff to running back Miles Reed running up the middle. Cordeiro kept possession and raced untouched around right end for his third TD this season.
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The Lobos wasted little time in taking a 7-0 lead. Tevaka Tuioti and Jordan Kress teamed on a catch-and-sprint for 52 yards with 14:19 left in the first quarter.
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Co-captain Eugene Ford, who suffered a season-ending injury last week, represented the Warriors for the coin toss.
UH won the coin toss, and deferred the decision until next the second half. UH will open on defense.
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It’s the home opener for the Warriors as they play host to New Mexico at Aloha Stadium.
The Warriors (1-1) are back from a two-game road trip. The Lobos (0-1) will be playing their second after the Oct. 24 opener was canceled because of the pandemic.
Storylines:
> UH quarterback Chevan Cordeiro has not thrown a TD pass this season.
> UNM middle linebacker Brandon Shook, who had a team-high 10 tackles last week, won’t start tonight because of an injury.
> There will be no fans in the stadium. The Warriors sold cardboard cutouts of fans that are placed behind the New Mexico bench.
Kinpira!
Defense been playing most of the first qtr…but they shouldn’t be too tired. They gave up scores in 42 seconds and 29 seconds.
it’s getting harder and harder to watch. this breaks my heart.
With a new coach/system and COVID, I won’t lose hope. But I won’t pay $69.99 to watch the game on TV either.
Cheven is doing a good job with the amount of pressure he is facing when dropping back to pass. Too bad for that interception just before the half. It would’ve been good to at least come away with 3 points. Only down by 6 at half. Need to shore up the oline. Hope Pryor can return, if not ” next man up”. We get the ball first in the second half, it’s important that we put 7 points n the board. Defense is playing well enough to win.
NOT IMPRESSED. 4 MINS LEFT AND 2YD PASSES AND PUNT. NM KICKS FG NOW 6 PTS. STEP ON THE GAS!!! PEOPLE GOING TO MISS THE ROLO MENTALITY SO FAR.
Hard fought win, but it’s a “W” !!!
Bows played much better in the second half, Cheven was 13 for 15, 3 TD’s, over 250 yards, and 410 for the game. Defense held and made some big plays when it needed to. I think they were flagged for 3-4 penalties for the game, with none coming during crucial times. Maybe I am wrong but I don’t agree with the targeting call. Next week will be another tough game being that SDS suffered a loss this past week to SJS. Will be played in LA I think. Being no fans sort of a neutral site? But, still a road game.
Go Bows.
GODGRATULATIONS a W is still a W!!!
Nice work Bows! Wasn’t always pretty but they played hard & well enough to win. Need the running backs to be better..Chevan can’t be our leading rusher
Looked like Graham and staff needed the condensed games as bad as we did.
Miano is terrific in his analysis but he has a narrow lane he should stay in before he sounds “lame”. Kekaula has wider lane because of his personality but his (randomly paused) “quirky” delivery is off-putting unless there is a description of an exciting play. I think they could use a third guy in there. Make it sound like this.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi3xMuS0vPsAhVkCjQIHV25AZYQyCkwAHoECAEQAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D6-xAsC1El60&usg=AOvVaw3xDLHFZZ_MEISb9D6L_S6Z
Here’s the link to ordering your fan cutout shown in ST’s stadium photo above. Note you should download the instructions at the order site because it has many unintuitive steps. Site says you may pick up your cutout at the end of the season (doesn’t say where) and all proceeds go to the UH football program.
https://hawaiiathletics.com/news/2020/10/29/uh-offers-fan-cutouts-for-2020-football-season.aspx
Hoping next W comes against San Diego St. Just cut out the turnovers and penalties.
You can see the ceiling for Mardner much better now that he was an integral piece of the game plan. Chevan has a real comfort level with him, especially because his long passes need either good separation, or superior leverage (Mardner has awesome radius) due to his “modest” (for now) arm strength. Unreal potential “weapon” there.
Bowens might be someone he may get comfortable with as well because he gets so much separation. He had to wait a little on the deep pass over the top of the safeties that he caught in the end zone for touchdown but the throw was confidently tossed (comfortable?) which is what was lacking (confidence) vs Wyoming. Bowens just needs to work some physicality so to not get re-routed (JoJo Ward’s main problem). Good contrast to Mardner. Especially as vertical guys. Tandem going to be hard to match up with later.
The underneath passing game was schemed much better vs New Mexico. Chevan’s feet didn’t “flutter” like previous games. He “drifted” out of the pocket and got to comfortable throwing spaces. He also made quicker decisions on when to “tuck it” and run. Smart is a very, very reliable possession/horizontal receiver but needs to be more “visible” (get in the puka’s) when Chevan drifts because you know that both are capable of making outstanding plays. Bussey need to help out Chevan as well by adjusting toward more open spaces upfield (like JoJo did).
You can see the potential of this offensive system. Lots of “stuff” going on (even Turner and Stovall threw passes). The only thing holding it back is a few player efficiency issues (and maybe some curious play calling vs Wyoming). The “sky’s the limit” offensively. Just need more “trust” and confidence. (and maybe work on executing a better screen pass vs good pass rush?). Bring on SDSU.
In the Facebook “Hawaii Football — Warrior Nation” group, someone posted that with no crowds to consider, maybe the game time could be changed (earlier). Coach Graham’s wife commented:
Yeah…a later game time has always been a crusade of mine. But note that this comes from the coach’s wife …AND… Coach Graham designated the mauka side for the home team ( to stay out of the sun and glare?). Looks like it really takes a fresh pair of eyes to see what could help the team at Aloha Stadium.
RE: #16
Sorry, meant to say the MAKAI sideline.
BTW, I still maintain a simple Tsai-ko archive web page at: http://stevem.altervista.org
The UH offensive and defensive lines need to get more “fired up” and physical in this next game. When you compare them to BYU’s physicality it’s not really close. Inside your mind you know it could be same or similar to theirs, but it just isn’t right now. That needs to change soon. Especially on the O-Line.
The UH defensive line kind of plays more finesse than physical. Often out leveraged (even against New Mexico surprisingly) trying to reach and hand fight instead of “crashing” gaps and inside shoulders to exert their own leverage and free up lanes for Frazier and Prichard. I think that’s why Muasau has to make so many plays from the edge toward the backside. The D-Line has to be more stout, like BYU. Get the linebackers to make more plays at the line of scrimmage because the third level guys not really good at up field tackling so far. As a unit they have made some “unexpected” big plays (random, surprising, “didn’t see that coming”) here and there but the key is the D-Line I think. They need to show up big at San Diego.
The offensive line is a big, physical, experienced, and mature group that looks “out of sync” in comparison to last season. They looked slow vs Fresno although they ran blocked pretty good second half. They looked “empty” vs Wyoming like they were on “muscle memory’ reflexes going through the motions. And against New Mexico they looked “soft”. Not real aggressive in trying to inflict difficulty for the Lobo’s run defense. Lucky the New Mexico D-Line is not so fast (like Fresno) or solid (like Wyoming). Chevan did a lot more “drifting” toward the edges on Saturday. Looked like it was partially schemed. Corderio also dropped back then stepped up to throw giving the protection a better chance to create a decent pocket. But the run blocking was disappointing. “Softly” engaged. They can do better. Plus they have depth. The running lanes just need one key, aggressive, angry, “blast”. Need to see it Saturday.
On defense, the play of Justas Tavai has been a pleasant surprise. On offense, it’s Dae Dae Hunter.
Justus Tavai has been a pleasant surprise this season. He is much better than last year. He (in my opinion) still has not reached the level of Zeno’s senior year yet. That is the level I would expect from him in his junior season. He needs to come up big at clutch moments like Zeno did. Zeno’s problem was finishing the tackle, Tavai doesn’t seem to have that same problem. Justus’ power to quickness ratio is pretty good and he is noticeable on film this year (was not at all last season) so the next step is to make more plays. Whole D-Line needs to step up. Hope to see it Saturday…… BTW will the game be on network TV?
So Bubba Waa and Zach Bowers both announced yesterday that they were entering the transfer portal. Any others?
Bubba Wa’a was good vs Nevada 2019. Bowers had nice hudl clips, was waiting to see him play. To bad. Good luck to them.
I hope the coaching staff creates for Turner run some package of wildcat where there is more than just him running between the tackles. Something a little more intricate if possible. Maybe with some RB read option to exploit the edges or even speed option (edge option pitch with a slot) off a tight formation. Maybe “motion” into some 4 wide set so to create larger running lanes for Turner and the RB. And of course a “surprise” pass (Hunter was so open) like Air Force does it. Wishful thinking maybe? Graham is pretty creative and he seems OK with taking risks. Would be hard to prepare for.
Bubba Wa’a? There are six senior O-linemen and three juniors. Only returning guard other than starter Vaipulu with experience next season is Wa’a. I wonder why?
Wa’a posted about his decision on his Twitter feed. He said that there were “personal reasons” leading to his decision. He also thanked UH for the opportunity and said Hawaii will always be home. He’s apparently been getting a number of offers since his announcement from non-FBS schools. Not sure what happened, but I wish him well.
Bowers also posted a very gracious message on his Twitter feed. Both guys seem like good kids and I wish them well.